Is taxsaver worth it when WFH most of the year?

banana2022

Hi, I'm trying to figure out if Taxsaver is worth it for me.

My salary is 35k before tax and even more with overtime and bonus (roughly 40k total) which means I pay part standard and higher tax rate each month.

Buying a bus eireann 24h orange zone ticket costs 17.40. I go to Dublin for work 3 consecutive days every two weeks. This means I can get away with buying 2 24h tickets for the 3 days if timed correctly.

It currently costs me around 70 euro a month or 835.20 a year (give or take some days if I don't go in sometimes).

The annual taxsaver for orange zone is 2216 euro which is the only taxsaver option available for me.

Does this actually save me any money?

Thanks.

L1011

No, you'd pay more than 70/month after tax. There are very few people it suits anymore.

namloc1980

It doesn't suit very many people working hybrid. The NTA were quizzed about introducing a part time commuter taxsaver but they've basically refused to do so claiming it's too complicated.

SuperBowserWorld

Rail and bus also cheaper at the moment. Taxsaver no use for a couple days commute ...

Note: if you had a taxsaver ticket for 2020 when covid lockdown happened you should be able to claim back the months from lockdown until you stopped paying for the ticket.

I remember getting reimbursed for April, May 2020 IIRC, which was nice.

L1011

deleted the post I had above doing price workings as it was quoting someone who's been deleted since.

If you didn't claim back in 2020 I doubt you can do it now. If you held on to the ticket, you got 6 months free on expiry; and if you held one when the prices went down this year you got 3 months free. I'm in to that 3 months now, and will not renew as it not saving me a cent.

A huge increase in subsidy to bring fares down to their current lows has basically all but replaced Taxsaver now, and is now available to everyone as a result.

LXFlyer

Tickets bought under the Taxsaver scheme, still benefits anyone who is paying 40% tax and travelling to and from work 5 days a week, and that is still quite a few people, despite what some people here seem to think.

Anyone who uses public transport in the cities to travel around outside of their commute would also still get value out of it.

thomasj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119511472#Comment_119511472

I'm in that bracket.

I may not work in the office 5 days a week, but I do travel 6 or 7 days a week and the travel pass is great value for what I'm paying and it's very convenient too

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119511648#Comment_119511648

Likewise. I commute into the office 3 days a week but also use public transport on a Sunday so it's financially beneficial for me to have an annual tax saver ticket.

deRanged

whatever happened to the proposal for a 2/3 day per week Taxsaver ticket? I imagine that would be ideal.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119514445#Comment_119514445

Given up on as needing too much effort basically.

They should at least flatten to a single price for all modes in Dublin now. What savings there may be for a higher rate, five day a week user are dwindled if using two and basically gone for three modes.

loyatemu

by my calculations I'd need to be going into the office 3 times a week to make Taxsaver worthwhile. That's at higher rate tax - if I was on standard rate I'd probably have to be going in 5 days a week.